AP National Business

The Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a woman who expected to pay about $1,300 for back surgery but was charged more than $300,000 by a suburban Denver hospital. This week’s ruling follows efforts by many U.S. states and the federal government to require transparency in hospital pricing

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After starting as a niche corner of the finance world, ESG investing has since exploded to become a major force on Wall Street _ and the latest front in the nation’s cultural schism. To use an ESG approach is to consider a company’s performance on

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Red state officials are coming out swinging against growing Wall Street efforts to consider environmental risk in investment decisions. Their target is “ESG,” which stands for environmental, social and governance. The principles call on investors to consider factors other than traditional financial metrics in their

By MATTHEW BROWN and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest woodlands is raising a simple but vexing question: When does a forest grow old? The answer could affect millions of acres of federally-managed forests where environmentalists want logging restricted as climate change, wildfires and

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet Many major hotel chains are embracing all-inclusive offerings. For example, Hyatt recently announced an integration with AMR Collection brands, a group of about 100 all-inclusive resorts. Others, including Walt Disney World Resort, are workshopping the all-inclusive model, offering more specialized entertainment or outdoor access. These vacation packages are attractive to

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A closely divided House has approved legislation to crack down on alleged price gouging by oil companies as prices at the pump continue to soar. A bill backed by House Democrats would give President Joe Biden authority to declare an energy emergency that would make it unlawful

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis. Under the new rules, which take

By JIM SALTER Associated Press Twenty years after a spate of deaths at a rural Missouri hospital, a former worker has been charged with murder. According to a police investigator, in the five months that Jennifer Anne Hall was a respiratory therapist at Hedrick Medical Center, the Chillicothe hospital experienced 18 “code blue” incidents. The

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — A small brewery in Finland has launched a NATO-themed beer to mark the Nordic country’s bid to join the Western military alliance. Olaf Brewing’s OTAN lager features a blue label with a cartoon version of a beer-drinking medieval knight in metal armor emblazoned with NATO’s compass symbol.

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — House lawmakers have approved a symbolic resolution calling for the restoration of the Ohio State University’s football team’s 2010 season that was vacated after a memorabilia-for-cash scandal. The resolution sponsored by Rep. Brian Stewart, an Ohio State graduate, calls on the NCAA to reinstate the team’s

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in April for the third month in a row as mortgage rates surged, driving up borrowing costs for would-be homebuyers as home prices soared to new highs. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales fell 2.4% last month

Associated Press Harley-Davidson is announcing a two-week suspension of vehicle assembly and most shipments, citing a regulatory compliance issue with one of its suppliers. Company shares tumbled almost 8% Thursday. Harley-Davidson says the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” after the company received information from a supplier of one of its component

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates retreated modestly this week, but interest on the key 30-year loan remains at decade-high levels. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate slipped to 5.25% from 5.3% last week. By contrast, the average rate stood at 3% a

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer McDonald’s is selling all of its restaurants in Russia 30 years after the burger chain became a powerful symbol of easing Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union. It shuttered all Russian locations in March because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Chicago burger giant said

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Kohl’s Corp. cut its earnings forecast, as the department store joins a string of retailers stung with soaring inflation. The reduction followed weaker-than-expected first-quarter results. Like many department stores, Kohl’s had struggled before the pandemic, but the health crisis wielded a big blow to sales.

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rising interest rates are making adjustable-rate mortgages a more attractive alternative to common 30-year, fixed-rate home loans. ARMs made up 13% of all home loans by dollar volume in March, their highest share since January 2020, according to CoreLogic. The increase coincides with a sharp

By R.J. RICO Associated Press Practically every minute of every hour, someone sends a tweet to Bill Pulte, a 33-year-old private-equity investor and heir to the mammoth PulteGroup homebuilding company. And, nearly every day, Pulte responds. He sent $500 for a man who sent a video showing his missing teeth. He gave $125 for a

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless aid last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits is at a 53-year low. Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 21,000 to 218,000 for the week ending May 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally track

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization has granted an emergency use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by China’s CanSino Biologics. It’s the 11th coronavirus vaccine to receive WHO’s green light. In a statement on Thursday, the U.N. health agency said the single-dose vaccine was found to be about 92% effective against severe COVID-19

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s currency has plummeted to an all-time record low in intraday trading against the U.S. dollar amid uncertainty about the success of crucial talks between the International Monetary Fund and the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, which is considering massive new taxation to avoid a default. According to the central bank,

MILAN (AP) — The Italian Coast Guard says a tugboat with six people on board has capsized in the Adriatic Sea, leaving five crew members missing. Only the captain survived.  The Coast Guard and other authorities were searching for four Italians and one Tunisian sailor. Authorities said the search was complicated by high winds. A

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is lifting a monthlong ban on palm oil export, citing improvements in the supply and domestic price of bulk cooking oil. President Joko Widodo says exports will resume on Monday. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s largest exporters of palm oil, which plays an important

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s central bank says it will lower the maximum amount of foreign currency that individuals can possess to $10,000 from $15,000 and penalize anyone who holds it for more than three months. Police, meanwhile, fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands of students

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Spirit Airlines is advising shareholders to reject a tender offer for shares from JetBlue three days after it went hostile in its bid to create what would be the nation’s fifth largest airline. Spirit repeated Thursday that any attempt to merge with JetBlue would face substantial regulatory hurdles, largely

LONDON (AP) — Britain has frozen the assets of three Russian airlines, preventing them from selling landing slots at U.K. airports that are worth up to $62 million. The new sanctions Thursday over Russia’s war in Ukraine stop state-owned Aeroflot, Rossiya Airlines and Ural Airlines from transferring the valuable landing rights. Those rights are going

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is asking the owners of 350,000 vehicles in to take them to dealers for repairs in three recalls, including about 39,000 that should be parked outdoors because the engines can catch fire. Ford says in U.S. government documents posted Thursday that it doesn’t know what’s causing fires in some 2021 Ford

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) — Finance ministers for the Group of Seven leading economies are grappling with deepening inflation concerns and the immediate effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning that it all adds up to a “very difficult economic situation.” Yellen